Leadership and Culture

Creating a sustainable ‘operational excellence culture’ is the outcome of 1,000 things done the right way.

What is a Culture?

A set of principles and behaviors expected, supported and reinforced at all levels of the organization by the largest number of people.

Lean is about building a company culture of continuous improvement focused on:

Thinking in terms of your customers

Creating value along the whole value chain

Making everything visible

Working together

Creating and improving standards

Develop leaders at every level of the organization.

In a Lean Enterprise in Motion™, it is imperative to develop leaders at every level of the organization whose collective responsibility is to develop this culture by managing change…and managing the organization as a system.

Think of it as a “super-enterprise” in which people, processes, and physical and financial resources work in harmony to ensure operational excellence and long-term growth. New behaviors must go hand-in-hand with improvements in the flow of materials and information. Change begins when leaders start acting differently.

“Leaders articulate and define what has previously remained implicit or unsaid; they then invent images, metaphors, and models that provide a focus for new attention.”Warren Bennis and Burt Nanus, authors of Leaders: Strategies for Taking Charge.

A lean enterprise requires a shift in thinking, from management of activities to leading, coaching and guiding teams and individuals.

The Role of Lean Leadership

Do what’s right for the organization

Manage the dream

Architect of the change process

Model the change daily and insist that others do too

Coach, teach and learn

Encourage reflective backtalk and dissent

Make everyone feel like a winner

Get all stakeholders involved and create partnerships

A lean culture will ensure operational excellence and long-term growth.

Productivity knows what it takes to lead a Lean enterprise. We can help your organization overcome natural resistance by creating a shared understanding of the “new way,” defining a roadmap for change, and setting the stage properly.

Productivity news

Lean Practices Support Innovation

To consistently drive top-line growth, leaders must commit to a disciplined and creative focus on meeting today’s market challenges while strengthening capabilities for future competitive mastery. It’s a matter of keeping the core business running optimally without losing sight of what’s on the horizon—and being prepared for and open to “creative destruction.”